Alan Menken and Howard Ashman’s off-Broadway musical hit LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (94/103 mins., 1986, PG-13; Warner) was adapted to the screen in 1986 by Ashman (who wrote the script) and director Frank Oz, whose experience with The Muppets made him the ideal candidate to bring the project’s offbeat sensibilities to the big screen. Though the film wasn’t a box-office smash, Oz and producer David Geffen’s screen version of “Little Shop of Horrors” – itself a remake of the ‘60s Roger Corman B-movie favorite – ranks as one of the best movie musicals, and Warner’s sizzling 4K remaster does it justice this month on UHD.

Rick Moranis stars as the hapless Seymour Krelborn, who works in a flower shop in Skid Row during the early ‘60s. In love with his co-worker Audrey (Ellen Greene, the only holdover from the stage version), who’s a punching bag for her abusive dentist boyfriend (Steve Martin), Seymour’s fortunes are stuck in the gutter until he discovers a new plant that feeds on human blood. Dubbed the “Audrey II,” the little plant sprouts into a full-blown talking – and singing – monster (voiced by Levi Stubbs of the Four Tops) whose aspirations seem to be larger than taking up more and more room in Mushnik’s Flower Shop.

Menken and Ashman’s score is one of their best (and that’s saying something): the marvelous early number “Downtown,” the ballads “Somewhere That’s Green” and “Suddenly Seymour,” the showstopping “Mean Green Mother From Outer Space” (written for the film) and the Greek chorus that comments on the action with a Motown-like sound carry viewers through a wacky and wild ride that Oz peppers with occasional star cameos (Bill Murray is hilarious as one of Martin’s overly eager patients; John Candy, Jim Belushi and Christopher Guest also briefly appear) and superb puppet effects.

When “Little Shop” was first released in 1986, the movie received mostly positive reviews with an occasional recurring criticism that the film’s climactic special effects overshadowed the picture’s overall tone. It’s ironic this complaint was levied at the movie’s theatrical version – one can only imagine the criticism Oz’s initial cut of the film would’ve been met with!

Adding nearly 10 minutes of elaborate special effects with the Audrey IIs trashing the planet, the “Don’t Feed the Plants” ending – restored here with Dolby Atmos sound in Warner’s stunning UHD release of “Little Shop of Horrors” – was wisely re-shot after test screenings confirmed that preview audiences almost unanimously hated it.

Certainly it does everything some critics complained about the theatrical version and turns it up to the nth degree: shots of the plants eating their way through the streets of New York, tearing down buildings, consuming subway trains, and climbing up the Statue of Liberty are brilliantly designed and executed by Richard Conway and his model unit…but all of it comes out of left field. After watching a fairly intimate and confined musical dominated by two central characters you grow to care about (both of whom are killed off in the original ending), seeing the movie abruptly shift gears and become an FX-driven spectacle along the lines of “Godzilla: The Musical” simply doesn’t work. And while Ashman had intended this ending to be tongue-in-cheek (as it plays in the stage musical), the humor is diminished on-screen because of the scale of the special effects.

Though Oz wanted to stay true to Ashman’s script and the stage version’s story, the dynamics of making a film versus watching a play with live actors lead Oz to admit that he could understand why audiences disliked the original ending. As the director himself states in an archival featurette, “in a stage play you kill the leads and they come out for a bow – in a movie, they don’t come out for a bow, they’re dead. And the audience loved those people.”

At least viewers now have the opportunity to see Conway’s special effects and Oz’s original ending in 4K on UHD. Even if, dramatically, the Director’s Cut comes up short compared to the smartly reworked finale of the theatrical cut, fans of the movie can now see where most of the movie’s budget went (buffs will also note that Paul Dooley’s appearance has been restored in the Director’s Cut; his part was reshot with Jim Belushi in the revised theatrical cut ending).

Warner’s 4K UHD includes both cuts of the movie in a dynamic new 4K restoration (1.85) with Dolby Vision HDR and a new Dolby Atmos sound mix that’s plenty potent and bass-heavy. The original Dolby Stereo 2.0 track is included on the theatrical side also, while special features include the new “To Feed or Not to Feed” retrospective and legacy extras including featurettes, outtakes, deleted scenes, and Oz’s commentary. Highly recommended!

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Warner Archive New Releases

Kicking off this month’s Warner Archive releases is PENNIES FROM HEAVEN (107 mins., 1981, R; Warner Archive), a big-budget box-office disappointment that adapts Dennis Potter’s BBC series as a standalone feature that contrasts the grimy hell of living through the Great Depression with period songs performed as dreamy Hollywood musical numbers.

Seen through the eyes of a struggling salesman (Steve Martin) trapped in a loveless marriage with Jessica Harper while lusting after school teacher Bernadette Peters, “Pennies From Heaven” is a fascinating, if one-note, viewing experience: the look of quality brought to the screen by production designer Ken Adam, cinematographer Gordon Willis, and director Herbert Ross is striking opposite its downbeat story with Martin not entirely convincing as a dramatic lead. However, able support is turned in by a dancing Christopher Walken, and for the most part, “Pennies From Heaven” works as an interesting experiment in visual storytelling – even if it’s structure grows repetitive and the film unrelentingly bleak by the end.

Warner Archive’s Blu-Ray captures the MGM production (1.85, mono) in a stellar 4K remaster. The soundtrack features ‘30s and ‘40s tunes augmented with some arrangements from Marvin Hamlisch and Billy May – alas, the soundtrack album offered just the period songs and none of their work together. The mono sound is clear while extras include a 20^th Anniversary panel discussion (never previously released), the trailer and a scene-specific commentary by Peter Rainer. It should also be noted that Bob Peak’s memorable theatrical poster artwork graces the front cover.

Also new from Warner Archive is the Pre-Code MGM drama SKYSCRAPER SOULS (100 mins., 1932), a “Grand Hotel”-styled melodrama starring Warren William as a NYC business mogul struggling to maintain his sky-high building aspirations with his wife (Hedda Hopper) and mistress (Verree Teasdale). Maureen O’Sullivan co-stars in Edgar Selwyn’s archival affair, remastered on Blu-Ray (1.33 B&W, mono) with a classic MGM short, WB short and vintage cartoon on-hand on the supplemental side.

The MGM hit BOYS TOWN (93 mins., 1938) paired up box-office heavyweight Spencer Tracy with the quickly-ascending Mickey Rooney in a Norman Taurog-helmed biopic of Father Edward J. Flanagan. Tracy essays the real-life Nebraska priest whose crusading work establishing a home for homeless, troubled youths is put to the test when Rooney’s tough Whitey Marsh arrives on the scene. Tracy won an Oscar for his performance (as did the script) in this decidedly sentimental, old-fashioned MGM product, new to Blu-Ray sporting an MGM promo short, a radio program featuring the real Father Flanagan, featurette and trailer.

The RKO musical comedy BUNDLE OF JOY (97 mins., 1956) celebrated the off-screen relationship of Eddie Fisher and a (then pregnant) Debbie Reynolds in a remake of 1930s Ginger Rogers screwball classic “Bachelor Mother.” Here, Reynolds plays the shopgirl who finds an abandoned baby and soon finds everyone believing she’s the mother. Agreeable ‘50s fun with what they used to call a bubblegum score, “Bundle of Joy” has been restored with another colorful Warner Archive Blu-Ray (1.85, mono) transfer also featuring two Warner cartoons and the trailer.

Luise Rainer and Fernand Gravey dance to THE GREAT WALTZ (104 mins., 1938), the Hollywoodized biopic of “Waltz” king Johann Strauss that’s hugely entertaining in the best sense of Golden Age studio fare. Dimitri Tiomkin adapted Strauss’ works while lavish costumes and Joseph Ruttenberg’s cinematography (the Oscar winner for 1938) provide a pleasant view even today – especially in its backlot shooting of “Old Vienna” locales. An MGM short and cartoon, radio program “Leo is on the Air,” and the trailer are included in Warner Archive’s new Blu-Ray (1.33 B&W, mono).

Bette Davis started a long run at Warner Bros. (for a second time) with the release of MARKED WOMAN (96 mins., 1937), starring as a bad girl trying to do good: a night club girl who’s battered and persuaded by a prosecutor (Humphrey Bogart) to testify against, and help put, the criminal mastermind “Johnny Vanning” (a riff on Lucky Luciano) behind bars. A solid Warner gangster drama with a female perspective, “Marked Woman” sports a featurette, two WB cartoons and the trailer (1.37, mono).

Moving out of the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s we hit PLEASE DON’T EAT THE DAISIES (111 mins., 1960), a glossy MGM comedy starring Doris Day and David Niven as parents to a quartet of precocious boys. Isobel Lennart’s script adapts Jean Kerr’s book, serving both as an ideal Day family comedy vehicle that also gets a charge out of Niven’s performance as a Broadway critic and Janis Paige, Spring Byington and Richard Haydn on-hand for support. The Cinemascope frame has been beautifully restored here in an Archive remaster (2.35) with mono sound, the trailer, and the pilot from the TV sitcom adaptation on-hand for good measure.

One of my favorite Archive releases this month, DEAR HEART (114 mins., 1964) paired Glenn Ford, as a salesman who’s never going to settle down, and Geraldine Page as an extrovert widow who sets him in her sights. The unlikely duo fall in love while attending a New York City postmasters convention in this flavorful, well-acted adult drama from Delbart Mann, scored by Henry Mancini and offering a superb supporting cast including Angela Lansbury. Warner’s B&W restored transfer (1.37, B&W) is in great shape with two more classic Warner cartoons and the trailer comprising its special features.

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New From Paramount

JACKASS: BEST AND LAST Blu-Ray (91 mins., 2026, R; 2026; Paramount): Johnny Knoxville and the gang are back for one last go-around – allegedly – with this big-screen reunion film that likely will fare better at home than it did in theaters. A deleted scenes montage is included along with a Digital HD code in Paramount’s Blu-Ray (1.78, 5.1 DTS MA).

THE MADISON Season 1 Blu-Ray (aprx. 6 hours, 2025; Paramount): As much of a Taylor Sheridan fan as I am, I couldn’t get into this beautifully-shot but slow-going family drama with ample flashbacks tracing the relationship between grieving city-gal widow Michelle Pfeiffer and her late husband (Kurt Russell) and his brother (Matthew Fox), whose Montana cabin is left to her after their deaths in a plane accident. Sensitive performances abound but there’s nothing terribly compelling about “The Madison” despite its cinematic production values, which admittedly look great on Paramount’s Season 1 Blu-Ray (2:1, Dolby Atmos).

THE BRADY BUNCH: The Complete Series DVD (49 hours, 1969-74; CBS): Sherwood Schwartz’s sitcom about a pair of widowers each with three kids of their own (Mike Brady with three boys and wife Carol with her three girls, all of equal age), who combined to create the singular grooviest family on the tube in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, was an instant success during its initial run on the ABC airwaves. The kids found themselves as recording stars, hounded in malls and in appearances all around the country, while TV parent Florence Henderson soon pushed Wesson Oil and Robert Reed grew tired of “The Brady Bunch” as his lasting legacy.

Over the years, “The Brady Bunch” endured in spite of its polyester threads, hep tunes and cameo appearances by the likes of Dezi Arnaz, Jr., and appealed to a whole new generation of a different era. Those of us who grew up years after its cancellation (yours truly included) might have thought the clothing was a bit odd, but the themes of “The Brady Bunch” were – and still are — as meaningful and timeless as ever. Lose your diary? Don’t worry, Mom and Dad will search every used book store combing the ends of the Earth for it. Lose your voice at Christmas? No sweat, Mom will regain that ability just in time for Midnight Mass. Running up the phone bill? Be careful, or else Dad will install a pay phone in the living room.

CBS’ Complete Series DVD offers all five seasons of the show – 117 total episodes – with 4:3 transfers and mono soundtracks. The series looks terrific here and the set comes strongly recommended, though die-hards may want to check out the earlier “Complete” Brady package which also includes the “Brady Brides” TV spin-off, later “Bradys” revival series and, of course, the ‘90s big-screen movie spoofs.

Other TV on Disc Releases include Season 1 of THE AGENCY (8 hours, 2024-25; Paramount), the fairly well-received Showtime series about a betrayed CIA agent (Michael Fassbender) in a thriller co-starring Jeffrey Wright and Richard Gere. Paramount’s Season 1 DVD includes all 10 episodes in 16:9 transfers with 5.1 sound…Things have grown stale of late on SOUTH PARK, with loads of “Orange Man Bad” jokes skewing its original “equal opportunity offender” perspective. For the fans who still watch the series on a regular basis, CBS’ 27^th and 28^th seasons DVD collects the 2025 produced episodes in 16:9 transfers and 5.1 sound.

SCARY MOVIE 4K UHD Steelbook (88 mins., 2000, R; Paramount): There are times when it’s hard to fathom why critics often react like they do to certain movies. Case in point is this wildly overpraised spoof of “Scream” – the first of many – which has a few scattershot laughs but ultimately runs out of gas well before the end.

Like a sketch comedy segment stretched out to feature length, Keenan Ivory Wayans’s gross-out comedy has about 20 minutes of good material and spends much of its time calling attention to horror movie cliches (themselves outlined, in great detail, in every one of the “Scream” movies!), and thinks

that it’s being far funnier than it really is. A good example is its self-proclaimed “satires” of ‘90s hits “Matrix,” “Blair Witch” and “Sixth Sense,” limited to one specific reference to a scene in those movies and which, predictably enough, were all shown in the trailers.

There are some laughs here, but since the advertisements gave most of them away, what you’re left with is a movie that’s so raunchy, profane, and also disgusting (with some truly obscene, and unfunny, visual gags) that its excesses leave you drenched in gutter-humor mentality. Still, it’s funnier than the sequels that followed (mostly)…

Paramount’s 4K UHD of the first “Scary Movie” is a Limited Edition Steelbook including Dolby Vision HDR and a Blu-Ray sporting all of its assorted archival extras (5.1 DTS MA) plus a Digital HD code.

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Quick Takes

HADESTOWN: THE MUSICAL (141 mins., 2026; Bleecker Street): Brett Sullivan captures the Tony and Grammy-winning musical hit, mixing American folk tunes with Big Easy-styled jazz to retell the Orpheus story in a fresh musical setting. Bleecker Street’s Blu-Ray includes a 5.1 DTS MA soundtrack and streets October 20^th...FIREFLIES AT EL MOZOTE (2025, R; Alliance) finds a young boy joining up with a group of rag-tag freedom fighters in a war-torn country in Ernesto Melara’s film starring Paz Vega (2.39, 5.1 DTS MA), now on Blu-Ray from Alliance.

NEXT TIME: MVD drops big new Arrow titles, Toy Robot releases & more! Until then, don’t forget to drop in on the official Aisle Seat Message Boards and direct any emails to our email address. Cheers!